^^^^^■^^■^ 



OOLp 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Cliap. Copyright No. 

8helf _ _7?__5 b 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



GOLF DONETS 



GOLF DONTS 

ADMONITIONS THAT WILL HELP 
THE NOVICE TO PLAY WELL AND 
SCRATCH MEN TO PLAY BETTER 

y BY 

H. L. FITZ PATRICK 



"How sweet to walk the velvet 
green." — moore. 



NEW YORK 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. 
1900 



Q 5288__ 

OCT 84 1900 
OCT 36J900 



(^V9'. 



Copyright, 1900 
By Doubleday, Page & Co. 



CONTENTS 

I. On the Club Porch . 3 
II. Tee Talk and Caddies 17 

III. Through the Fair 

Green . . . . . ^^ 

IV. When Hazards Baffle 45 

V. Approaches and Re- 
proaches .... 57 

VI. Luck, Psychic Influ- 
ence, and Long Putts 7 1 

VII. Ye Art of Holing Out 79 

VIII. Men, Women and 

Misses 87 

IX. Round the Restful 

Nineteenth ... 99 



ADDENDA 

Page 3 6 — The penalty is the same 
should your ball hit your caddie. 

Page 83 — The ball must be placed 
back of casual water on the putting 
green. 



ERRATA 

Page 50 — Ignore " water " in sec- 
ond paragraph. 



CHAPTER I 

ON THE CLUB 
PORCH 



CHAPTER I 
ON THE CLUB PORCH 

DON'T mount , the stairs as 
though you were going to a 
funeral, yet do not be too 
affable. Geniality should never de- 
generate into servility. 

Don't, however, act as if the place 
was your wood shed and the persons 
sitting about waiting for a job to 
split up kindlings. Yet better a Cy- 
rano than a Uriah Heep in deport- 
ment. 

Don't, on the way down, pay heed 
to the idiots who tell you that golf is 



GOLF DONETS 

a newfangled style of hockey. Be 
content that it is and always will be. 

Don't play simply to get up muscle. 
The game produces symmetry rather 
than the abnormal development of a 
Sandow. 

Don't approach the game too con- 
fidently. It may be said of golf, as 
Walton wrote on angling, "You will 
find angling to be like the virtue ot 
humility, which has a calmness of 
spirit and a world of other blessings 
attending upon it." 

Don't take up the game as a pre- 
text for gay attire alone, yet the 
advice of Polonius, " costly thy habit 
as thy purse can buy, yet, not ex- 
pressed in fancy," has no application 
to golfers and golfines. 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't, however, wear red waistcoats 
on the brain, nor let plaids dominate 
the intellect. 

Don't be a slave to either long or 
short trousers, to playing with a coat 
or without one, to wearing braces or 
a belt, shoes or boots. Be superior 
to the trappings of the game, and 
wear whatever is most convenient or 
comfortable. But on red letter days 
and bonfire nights uphold your dig- 
nity in the formal coat of the club 
colors. 

Don't place fashion before com- 
fort nor foppishness before the score. 

Don't take up the game unless you 
are determined to play it well. 

Don't cut the man who beats you 
5 



GOLF DON'TS 

badly ; rather be over-cordial, for the 
pace set will be his when the happy- 
day comes that you beat him. 

Don't on the other hand, unless 
you think the time is ripe, seek out 
the man who has defeated you to play 
a match. Better dally awhile until 
some one who believes he can beat 
you asks for a round. 

Don't fail, however, to get on with 
a scratch man at odds whenever the 
occasion offers. To play with an 
adept is always worth while. It is 
taking a golf lesson from personal 
illustration. 

Don't force yourself. The worst 
bore on the porch is the one who is 
continually asking for a round with 
yourself, Tom, Dick or Harry. He 



GOLF DON'TS 

is always booked for a week ahead, 
but somehow seems to be forever sit- 
ting about waiting for someone to 
play with. 

Don't forget that a match well 
made is half won, yet do not be too 
captious in arranging terms. Rather 
lose the match than blot the 
'scutcheon. 

Don't, in fixing the odds, overrate 
your game. The player who is stuck 
on himself in golf might as well be 
stuck in a bunker. 

Don't say as a preamble to a chal- 
lenge or an acceptance, " I am woe- 
fully off my game to-day." Why 
discount the value of a victory over 
you by self-detraction, and, on the 
other hand, does it not tend to hu- 



GOLF DONETS 

miliate your opponent to beat him 
after this declaration ? 

Don*t try to play the game with 
but one or two clubs, for you only 
handicap yourself. Learn the use of 
each club in turn from a good pro- 
fessional, and the more practice at each 
stroke the better, but when you sally 
forth for a full round take a full bag. 

Don*t make a hobby of a certain 
club. Better have your clubs in 
duplicate, and use them in turn. 
Then, should an accident occur to 
one of them before an important 
match, you will not be paralyzed by 
having to break in an utterly strange 
club. 

Don't fail to have the club profes- 
sional look over your bag of clubs 

8 



GOLF DON'TS 

before you start. The little repairs 
or touching-up jobs he may do will 
not cost much, and it will instill con- 
fidence, to know that the set is ship- 
shape and trustworthy. 

Don't, when you need a new set 
of clubs, rush off to some 99-cent 
bargain counter for it. Give the club 
professional a chance. 

Don't fail to make a stranger feel 
at home without waiting for an intro- 
duction. If an old member or a 
committeeman, a special courtesy be- 
comes a duty. 

Don't loiter about the club-house 
before starting out any longer than 
circumstances require. By prompt 
starting it is often possible to get a 
clear links. 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don*t, if nervous over the match 
that awaits you, seek to gain time by 
loafing about the dressing-room. As 
in deep sea bathing, a quick plunge 
will do more good than procrastina- 
tion. Besides it may jar the other 
man to find you awaiting him on the 
tee. 

Don't act the epicure before the 
match if you would be on edge, yet 
eat your fill of plain and wholesome 
viands. A hungry man can't golf well, 
nor can he who has made a Gargan- 
tuan feast. 

Don't, though thirst oppresses, 
drown the match at least until you 
have it finished. 

Don't leave the club house on a 
competition day until you have 



GOLF DONETS 

learned the exact conditions on which 
you are to play. 

Don't neglect to study the local 
rules. However silly you may re- 
gard them you must obey them, un- 
less in a match your opponent agrees 
to ignore the local tenets. Team 
matches are often lost when playing 
over a strange green, through an ig- 
norance of the local restrictions or 
privileges. 

Don't, unless you are an acrobat 
and willing to play from a tree should 
your ball lodge in one, start out 
without an agreement about them. 
When a ball lodges in one it is best, 
providing there is no local rule, 
to drop another ball two club 
lengths back on either side without 
penalty. 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't forget that the game con- 
sists in each side playing a ball from 
a teeing-ground into a certain hole by 
successive strokes ; that the low score 
wins and even strokes halve the hole. 
Elemental though this may be, many 
players forget it in the consideration 
of how to do it, and so omit to count 
at all. 

Don't overlook that the gist of the 
game is to get the ball away on every 
stroke ; style nor good intentions will 
not blot out a miss. 

Don't in the greenest of salad days, 
ignore the difference between match 
and medal play. Whoever wins the 
most holes gains a match and the 
lowest score wins at medal play. 
Nothing is more jarring than to hear 
the young man with the new clubs 



GOLF DONETS 

tell how he has won a match by 132 
to 144 strokes. 

Don't, really, tell your opponent 
on the way to the first tee, the details 
of your last good round. Be consid- 
erate. 



CHAPTER II 



TEE TALK AND CADDIES 



CHAPTER II 
TEE TALK AND CADDIES 

DON'T tell the opponent to 
drive first when you have 
won the toss for the honor. 
It is a confession of weakness. 

Don't tee up outside the marks, for 
it will not really help you to win a 
hole. In match play the ball may at 
once be recalled by the opponent, no 
stroke being counted for the misplay, 
and at medal play the penalty is dis- 
quaHfication. 

Don't tee up until it is your turn 
to drive off. 

17 



GOLF DONETS 

Don't think backward as you take 
the stance. Let every drive make its 
own history. 

Don't practice swings or stance 
while the player who has the honor 
is making his tee or preparing to 
drive. 

Don't be too profuse with compli- 
ments when an opponent is driving 
very well ; nor will a sympathetic 
murmur banish the jarring feelings 
left by a wretched foozle. Silence is 
often good golf. 

Don't neglect rubber tees nor other 
artificial ones that may please you, but 
never, let it be implored, use a tee 
that you can drive further than the ball. 

Don't build a tee like a lighthouse. 

i8 



GOLF DONETS 

Practice the art of compressing a 
pinch of sand so that it will raise 
the ball a wee bit clear of the turf. 
The old-timers do this with the 
fingers of one hand in a facile way. 
On dirt tees a rounded-off miniature 
kopje is the most useful. 

Don't be too faithful to one dri- 
ver. Old clubs do not belong, save 
as souvenirs, with Hardcastle's loves : 
" Old friends, old times, old man- 
ners, old books, old wines." In play 
shafts will too often split or warp 
with age. 

Don't make the club of any famous 
player a fetich. It is the man behind 
the club that counts, yet good play- 
ers are better guides in the choice of 
clubs than duffers. 

Don't hesitate to draw a line before 

»9 



GOLF DONETS 

or back of the ball, or in a half-circle, 
if you consider that the action helps 
you in driving. It would be rude, 
however, to turn a handspring before 
addressing the ball, although the rules 
do not forbid it. 



Don't place too much dependence 
on the dashing manner of your 
"waggle." One good swipe on the 
ball is worth a score of fantastic swings 
over it. 



Don't fail to differentiate between 
a wiggle and the " waggle." Would 
you be a cause of glee to the on- 
lookers ? 

Don't keep your eye off the ball, 
nor look in front of it. Swing slowly, 
increasing the speed at the moment 
of the impact and try to just raze the 



GOLF DON'TS 

ground back of the ball, the club 
head sweeping the ball away with the 
force of the momentum. Well hit, 
the more force the greater distance. 

Don't be too eager to watch the 
flight of the ball, to do so is to court 
a foozle. 

Don't look away from the spot 
where the ball was until you have 
seen the spot of ground on which it 
rested. This constitutes the merit of 
keeping your eye on the ball. 

Don't forget that the easiest way to 
win a match is to outplay the oppo- 
nent from the very first drive^ — if you 
can. 

Don't press when the opponent is 
out-driving you. Try instead for 
steadiness and accurate direction. 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't forget that the power of 
your weight and strength, aided by 
the leverage of the long driver, should 
always send a clean-hit ball 200 yards. 
Drop all theories and simply aim to 
make your weight and strength tell. 

Don't check the follow through, for 
in a good swing club head and ball 
are together for a space after the im- 
pact. The extra push is what gains 
the under spin and great distance. 

Don't neglect a few preliminary 
swings, but without interfering with 
your opponent, to loosen up the 
shoulders. 

Don't tee up until the opponent 
has driven off, when he has the honor, 
and, unless a cad, do not move or 
speak while he is playing. 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't tee up on a hanging lie ; the 
ground should fall away behind the 
ball, which should rest on top of your 
tee, not be imbedded in it. 

Don't take the stance after you 
have teed up. This is to put the cart 
before the horse, yet many fairly 
good players commit this fault. First 
take the stance and get a firm foot- 
ing, then, if the ground suits you, tee 
up the ball. If the ground does not 
slope right take a new stance. A 
strict observance of this rule will im- 
prove the score. 

Don't, in the stance, ignore that 
without ease and comfort you cannot 
succeed. 

Don't straddle like a Colossus of 
Rhodes, or do not keep the feet to- 
23 



GOLF DONETS 

gether In the first position of a danc- 
ing lesson. Take the stand you find 
will aid you most in getting the ball 
well away. 

Don't be too great a stickler for a 
certain " form," swing or style. The 
old school of professionals had but 
one grip and swing their shoulders as 
though in straight-jackets. Be as 
free-willed as the new school of Var- 
don's and Taylor's, who put results 
before traditions. 

Don't seek to impose a penalty, or 
to accept one, if the ball fall or be 
knocked off the tee in addressing it. 

Don't object if the ball be struck 
when it is rolling. The mishap usu- 
ally brings its own punishment. 

Don't let an opponent take trial 

24 



GOLF DON'TS 

swings over the ball once he has 
taken the stance to address it. The 
eyes of Argus could not tell the in- 
tentional stroke that is missed under 
such circumstances. Compel trial 
swings to be made at another part 
of the teeing-ground. A literal 
construction of the "addressing 
the ball'* definition must be insisted 
on. 

Don't ignore the honor. At match 
play insist on an opponent who plays 
out of turn from the tee recalling the 
stroke, without penalty except the 
effect on his nerves, and be as strict 
at medal play. Respect the little 
formalities and there will be fewer 
gross violations of the rules to argue 
about. After the first tee the man 
winning the honor must play first. 
Only duffers say otherwise. 

as 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don*t quibble about the " out of 
bounds " lines. The ball is more 
often out from tee shots than any- 
other, which is another premium on 
accuracy. 

Don't yield the honor because you 
have incurred a penalty stroke. The 
added stroke or strokes must not 
affect the rotation of play. 

Don't play your tee shot, unless 
by permission (except in the case of 
a lost ball), until the match in front 
is out of range. The etiquette of the 
game gives the right to drive off after 
the pair in advance have played their 
second strokes, but it is always best 
to be generous at this junction, and 
not to press onward. It is never a 
mistake to give the party ahead the 
full five minutes' grace sanctioned in 

a6 



GOLF DONETS 

American championships. To do so 
v/ill avoid all possibility of accidents, 
for, by a strange fatality, whenever a 
novice seeks to "spare" his drive to 
avoid hitting anyone, he is sure to 
get a phenomenal distance. The 
reason is that the novice fails to press 
and so gets an easy, sweeping swing, 
and a long ball. 

Don't carry your business or pro- 
fessional worries to the tee. Re- 
member the round should tone up 
the mind as well as the muscles. 

Don't make too much of any cer- 
tain caddie. One bad consequence 
is that through overzeal a lad so sin- 
gled out may improve the lie in an 
important competition or match, or 
seek to take some other illegal ad- 
vantage, on your behalf that you 

27 



GOLF DON'TS 

would be very sorry to have occur. 
Take the caddie whose turn it is, and 
if he prove incompetent report the 
facts to the caddie master. 

Don't ask for advice except from 
your own outfit, or wilhngly be other- 
wise advised in any way whatever, 
under the penalty of the loss of the 
hole at match or of disqualification at 
medal play. In cases of a lost ball 
hundreds of persons may help to find 
it, but, should you not ask them to 
do so, there is no penalty. Among 
gentlemen the opponent and his "out- 
fit," unless to do so would compel a 
walk across the width of the course, 
usually join in the search. The caddie 
is the only person who may legally 
advise a player, and while this rule 
stands there will never be a valid 
ground to insist that an amateur 
28 



GOLF DON'TS 

should regard it as unsportsmanlike 
to hire the best advice obtainable, i.e., 
that of a professional. 

Don*t think it snobbish to have 
the caddie make your tees, if he is 
smart enough. On a hot day the 
effort of bending down during a long 
match takes something out of a player. 
In a week of tournament play the 
task may well be shifted to another 
who is paid to do it. 

Don't depend on the advice of a 
caddie who is not thoroughly familiar 
with the distances of each hole, for 
except in putting, while two heads are 
often better than one, there is little 
profit in the act. 



49 



CHAPTER III 

THROUGH THE FAIR 
GREEN 



CHAPTER III 
THROUGH THE FAIR GREEN 

DON'T improve the lie, under 
penalty of the hole at 
match or of two strokes at 
medal play. 

Don't play a certain stroke too 
often, because you happen to play it 
well. Play the club the lie suits and 
the distance demands. 

Don't, for distance, take iron be- 
fore wood from a good lie. 

Don't, as a rule, keep the right 
foot back when you take up the iron 

33 



GOLF DON'TS 

clubs. Otherwise the stance may be 
the same and through the green the 
swing as full and strong. 

Don't mix the order of progress. 
A single, even if you are " It," will 
have no rights at all of procedure. 
By agility, or else long driving, a 
" single " may sometimes keep ahead 
of a proper match. 

Don't stand on dignity, either in 
a three- or four-ball match. Two- 
somes, threesomes and foursomes 
have the right of way. This should 
not gall you, for the rule is infallible. 
Common sense, however, should de- 
ter duffers from seeking to retard a 
group of scratch players who ask the 
right of way as a courtesy. 

Don't if on the short round, hold 

34 



GOLF DON'TS 

back a match going the full course. 
The law is with them. 



Don't, in brief, ever encumber the 
links. Yet, should a match of the 
slap-bang, "play into anyone*' sort 
try to pass your match without per- 
mission, never yield the way. 

Don't cause delay by looking for 
a " lost ball " over five minutes. Do 
not drop another ball down the trou- 
ser leg, no matter how important the 
match, but surrender the hole with 
aplomb. 

Don't worry about other matches 
passing when you are looking for a 
lost ball. To call out that you have 
almost found it may be construed as 
mockery. 

35 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't fail to remember that in 
many cases you and the caddie are 
one when it is a case of incurring 
penalties. 

Don't cavil because a ball in mo- 
tion is stopped by an agency outside 
the match, or by the fore-caddie, for 
it must be replaced and the occur- 
rence submitted to as a " rub of the 
green/' 

Don't omit to claim the hole should 
the ball strike an opponent, his cad- 
die or clubs ; yield the hole on the 
other hand, should his ball hit you 
or your " outfit." In medal play the 
penalty is one stroke. 

Don't hesitate to count a penalty 
stroke at either match or medal play, 
should you hit the ball twice in mak- 
36 



GOLF DON'TS 

ing a stroke. But when the ball 
runs up the shaft and finally gets 
away the only punishment is the 
shock to your nerves. 

Don't forget that a penalty stroke 
is incurred should you cause the ball 
to move by touching anything. Your 
caddie may penalize you in the same 
way. Yet it is all right to move loose 
impediments within a club's length 
through the fair green. 

Don't fail to count a stroke when- 
ever the ball moves while you are 
addressing it, except on the tee, or 
whenever you make any intentional 
downward stroke without hitting it. 

Don't ignore that a ball that lies or 
be lost in casual water through the 

37 



GOLF DON'TS 

green may be dropped without pen- 
alty. 

Don't ask for the hole if a ball be 
lost in " constant '* water, as in a 
pond or stream, for in either match 
or medal play the penalty is the loss 
of a stroke. 

Don't oppose the dropping of a 
ball without penalty, when your ball 
has displaced your opponent's, as 
near to where it was as possible, and 
before another stroke is made. 

Don't argue, too, against a ball be- 
ing lifted that lies on or within a club 
length of a drain cover, water pipe, 
hydrant, or " sich." 

Don't lift except when justified by 
the rules. Remember a ball is " in 

38 



GOLF DON'TS 

play '* after being struck from the tee- 
ing-ground until holed out. 

Don't fear to move any loose im- 
pediment (not being in or touching a 
hazard) which is within a club length 
of the ball. But there is a penalty if 
the ball moves. Beware of meddhng 
with anything growing. 

Don't play with a hacked ball. 

Don't hesitate to change the ball, 
should the ball in play become 
cracked, flattened out, or otherwise 
imperfect, but always tell your oppo- 
nent your intention to do so. Should 
he tell you the ball is still playable 
the matter may be left to a referee, 
or even carried to the Executive 
Committee of the United States Golf 
Committee. Remember your rights 

39 



GOLF DON'TS 

are neither to be brushed aside nor 
trodden down. 

Don*t claim that mud on a ball 
renders it unfit for play. 

Don't object to halving the hole 
when both balls are lost. 

Don't play with part of a ball, for 
you have the option of placing an- 
other ball where the largest portion of 
the old ball lies. Only a grumbler 
will compel you to take a scale or a 
measure to tell which split piece is the 
largest. 

Don't talk or move while another 
is making a stroke, nor permit your 
caddie to do so. A hasty ejacula- 
tion or quick movement at this time 
has won many a match, but at the 
loss of friendship. 
40 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't, in addressing through the 
fair green, seek to improve the lie by 
heavy pats with the club head back 
of the ball, affecting the while an ap- 
pearance of innocence. This, with 
the kindred trick of a solid push on 
the turf before the waggle, is for the 
golfing jockey, not the gentleman. 

Don't cause damage to the turf by 
neglecting to replace and press down 
any sods cut out in playing a stroke. 
If for no higher motives, after a fine 
shot pride should urge the replace- 
ment of the divot ; after a miss it is 
a work of self-mortification. It is 
better not to play at all when the 
turf is too sodden and mushy, as 
when the frost is thawing out in the 
early spring. 

Don't sacrifice accuracy through 
pressing for distance. Paste this rule 

41 



GOLF DONETS 

in your cap when out for a record 
round. 

Don't try to keep the sole of the 
club on a dead level with the ground. 
Tilt it on the heel, but address at the 
toe of the club. 

Don't coddle a bad lie through the 
green. Try for distance : if you fail 
the ball will at least go as far as 
though you had used a niblick. 

Don't, if you would score low, be 
afraid of the lie: "jab" at the ball 
when it is cupped, swing easily on a 
hanging lie, playing from the right 
foot. Go at an uphanging lie as though 
it were a teed-up ball. 



42 



CHAPTER IV 

WHEN HAZARDS 
BAFFLE 



CHAPTER IV 
WHEN HAZARDS BAFFLE 

DON'T let it slip the memory 
that the definition of " haz. 
ard " is " to venture, to 
trust to the operation of chance." 

Don't, therefore, trust implicitly to 
the old maxim that when in a diffi- 
culty the great thing is to get out re- 
gardless of direction or distance. 

Don't fear to take a chance. If 
Tait and Ball had followed the old 
adage absolutely neither would have 
made the green from the water haz- 
ard, to halve the hole, in the final of 

45 



GOLF DON'TS 

the amateur championship at Hoy- 
lake, in 1899. The strength of the 
game put up by the great masters of 
golf largely consists in the fine shots 
they get from hazards. They are 
always trying for both distance and 
direction. 

Don^t tempt fortune when playing 
one off two in the hazard, but when 
playing the odd be daring, and on 
the like be desperate. This advice, 
bravely followed, will improve the 
game of many who are from over- 
cautiousness just without the winning 
class. Success in these days means 
to be always striving for the lucky 
vantage ; the long carry from a poor 
lie ; the full shot dead to the hole ; 
the "gobble" putt to save a stroke on 
the green. 

Don't neglect the niblick until you 
46 



GOLF DON'TS 

have to use it in a hazard. Practise 
will enable you to do as much or 
more with it than with the mashie. 
There is no prettier or more telling 
shot in golf than the rocketed ap- 
proach from a hazard that guards the 
green. But the niblick is not the 
only chance in a hazard ; the lie will 
often permit the use of the mashie, 
the irons or even the play clubs. 
From a wide, shallow trap hazard, 
with the ball affording a fair chance, 
or from a road, the skilful player will 
often gain a dazzling distance from 
brassey or driver. 

Don*t use the niblick like a pick. 
To get a high, straight ball, jab into 
the sand behind it and a perpendicu- 
lar upshoot will result from the force 
of concussion; playing for distance 
give a clean cut under the ball, 
and follow through, allowing for the 

47 



GOLF DONETS 

tendency of the club to slice the 
ball. 

Don't try to penalize your oppo- 
nent if the ball move while he is 
making his upward or downward 
swing, unless you believe he has 
caused it to move by touching or 
moving some loose impediment, or 
by grounding his club, or in a hazard, 
by taking his stand to play it ; in 
which cases, at match or medal play, 
fine the wight a stroke. 

Don't wait for the train to come 
back should a ball lodge on it, 
nor is there any delay compulsory 
when a ball alights on any other 
moving hazard ; for another may be 
dropped as near as possible to the 
place where the object was when the 
ball lodged in it. 

48 



GOLF DONETS 

Don*t insist that a ball must be 
played from a recognized water haz- 
ard that for the time being is dry, for 
it is right to lift under a penalty of 
one stroke. 

Don't protest because the overflow 
from a recognized water hazard is 
part of the hazard, and not consid- 
ered as casual water. 

Don't hesitate to lift from casual 
water in a hazard. Drop the ball in 
the hazard back of the water, if there 
is room, if not drop in another part 
of the hazard, but not nearer the hole. 

Don't err about " casual water "; 
only claim as such any temporary ac- 
cumulation of water which is not one 
of the ordinary and recognized haz- 
ards. After a cloudburst be merci- 

49 



GOLF DON'TS 

ful, even if you must resott to rubber 
overshoes. 

Don't treat permanent grass in a 
hazard as part of the hazard ; and 
casual water, sand blown on to the 
grass, or sprinkled on the course for 
its preservation ; bare patches, snow 
and ice are not hazards. 

Don't sole the club in a "hazard" 
any bunker, water, sand, path, road, 
railway, whin, bush, rushes, rabbit 
scrape, fence or ditch. 

Don't treat the hazard as though 
it were part of the fair green ; be 
cautious even on permanent grass 
within the hazard, where the club may 
be soled. 

Don't willfully make bunkers any 
50 



GOLF DON'TS 

worse than they are by neglecting to 
fi-11 up holes made in playing out of 
them. Remember that you may be 
in the same hazard on the very next 
round, or, if a humanitarian, that it is 
your duty to smooth the way for 
others, even though the way be 
through the moil and the mire. 

Don't object to a ball being re- 
placed that has been moved by taking 
away a temporary hazard which it has 
been lying on or touching, — clothes, 
nets, etc., or ground under repair, or 
in a hole made by the greenkeeper, — 
but a ball lifted in a hazard must be 
dropped in a hazard. 

Don't grumble if the opponent's 
ball, in a hazard, be moved in taking 
out steps or planks from the hazard 
placed there by the Green Committee 

51 



GOLF DON'TS 

to make it easier to enter or get out 
of it. 



Don't forget that if the ball touches 
the bunker or hazard, the club can- 
not be soled, but if it lie on blown 
sand at the edge of a bunker, the club 
may be grounded. 

Don't scrape away the sand should 
a ball be buried in a hazard. 

Don't forget that you have the 
right to get a firm stance in a hazard, 
even though your feet push aside 
stones or sand, providing the ball is 
not moved nor the lie improved. 

Don't be derisive when your op- 
ponent's ball jumps a bunker, nor too 
jubilant should the same good luck 
happen to yourself. 

5^ 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don*t hinder your good or increase 
the bad runs of luck by poor judg- 
ment. Bear good fortune calmly and 
reverses with patience. Remember 
that the general averages at golf 
make all fortunes about even in the 
long run. But be always trying to 
redeem a bit of poor luck by a grand 
recovery. 



53 



CHAPTER V 



APPROACHES AND 
REPROACHES 



CHAPTER V 



APPROACHES AND REPROACHES 



D 



ON'T take the turf before 
the ball. 



Don't try to judge the distance the 
ball is from the green until you stand 
next it. Then make the calculation 
and take the club you need, not the 
one the ordinary caddie will thrust 
at you. 

Don't draw in the arms at the mo- 
ment of impact. 

Don't fear the half and quarter 
shots, but a full shot with a lofted 

57 



GOLF DON'TS 

club is usually easier than to "spare " 
a shot with a straighter-faced club. 

Don't forget that the club head 
must pass the ball before the hands. 

Don't procrastinate ; it is better for 
the nerves not to stand too long over 
the ball, nor to waste the mental and 
muscular powers by too many prac- 
tice swings. 

Don't, on the other hand, play too 
quickly; time each iron swing careful- 
ly and try to get the ball off cleanly, 
but, on the other hand, avoid an ex- 
cessive slowness in the preliminaries 
to the stroke. 

Don't blame the course, the club 
or the lie for your wretched shots. 

58 



GOLF DON'TS 

Just blame yourself, but keep cool 
and try for a good recovery. 

Don't be a slave to either the run- 
up or the pitch in approaching. 
Practice both styles of play to be at 
ease on all sorts and conditions of 
links. 

Don't forget that the sclafFed or 
topped mashie shot, if there is no 
hazard in the way, may be uninten- 
tionally as effective as the running-up 
approach, but that the reverse of the 
proposition is seldom as lucky. 

Don't approach too short ; if in 
doubt of the distance always prefer a 
full to half-shot. 

Don't force a weak club, better 
chance a club with a longer carry. 

59 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't on long putts, play to get 
near the hole, that is, to lay up for 
the next shot, unless playing one off 
two. Even then it is purer golf 
to study the line and try to hole 
out. 

Don't fail to loft cleanly with the 
irons and to follow through. The 
stabbed shots, to be effective, must be 
played the same way, but the follow 
through ends in the turf instead of in 
the air. 

Don't forget that "stabbed" shots 
are usually very damaging to the 
turf. 

Don't reproach yourself for an 
over-approach, even if trapped back 
of the green, but there is no sense in 
making this sort of thing a system. 
60 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't let the order of alternate play 
be changed in a threesome or four- 
some, under penalty of lose of the 
hole at match or of two strokes at 
medal play. 

Don't forget that the ball away 
from the hole must be played first. 
In match play the ball may be at once 
recalled by the opponent, no stroke 
being counted for the misplay. At 
medal play the stroke counts and the 
ball must not be recalled. Often at 
match play an opponent will quibble 
as to which ball is away so as to com- 
pel you to play the odd by his "kick 
through the green." 

Don't let the ball be "pushed, 
scraped or spooned," but insist that 
it shall be fairly struck at. In event 
of a dire foozle remember that the 

6i 



GOLF DONETS 

opponent meant to strike fairly, and 
look the other way. 

Don't play the opponent's ball, a 
mistake usually prompted by an 
eagerness to use a fine lie, for it will 
cost you the hole at the match game, 
and at medal play the ball must be 
replaced without penalty save the de- 
lay and bother. But the offense is 
condoned, should your opponent play 
your ball, and the hole must be 
played out with the balls thus ex- 
changed. Should the mistake occur 
through wrong information given by 
the opponent or his caddie, if discov- 
ered before the opponent has played, 
there is "nothing doing," and the 
ball must be replaced. 

Don't play out with the ball of a 
player not in the match, no matter 
62 



GOLF DON'TS 

how tempting the lie. In match play, 
if discovered before the next tee shot, 
you will lose the hole. At medal 
play, you must go back and play your 
own ball, the pairs behind meanwhile 
accentuating your mistake by cries of 
" Fore 1 " Should the ball not be 
found, another ball must be teed as 
near as possible to the place where 
the lost ball was last struck, and a pen- 
alty stroke added to the card, or else 
disqualification will be your fate. 



Don't lose a ball, for, except in 
constant " water or when sent out 
of bounds, the hole is lost at match 
play, while at medal play a ball must 
be dropped where the other was last 
struck and a stroke penalty incurred. 



cc 



Don't be churlish in aiding an op- 
ponent to find a lost ball, or object 

63 



GOLF DON'TS 

when outsiders assist in the quest. If 
his ball be found in your caddie boy*s 
pocket, your previous zeal will help 
to prove innocence on your part. 

Don't look as though your eye- 
sight had suddenly failed in looking 
at the ball in long grass. Only so 
much thereof shall be touched to en- 
able the player to see his ball, under 
penalty of the hole at match or two 
strokes at medal play. Some golfers 
would use their niblick like a scythe 
were these penalties not in force. 

Don't try to tee up after playing a 
ball out of bounds. Another should 
be dropped at the spot from which 
the stroke was made, the only pen- 
alty being loss of distance. 

Don't fail to lift the ball when your 
64 



GOLF DON'TS 

stroke might be spoiled through the 
proximity of the opponent's ball. 
When more than six inches apart on 
the putting green, or within a club 
length through the green, or in a haz- 
ard, the distance to be measured from 
their nearest points, the ball closest 
to the hole may be lifted until the 
other is played, and afterward be re- 
placed about on the spot where it lay. 

Don't, no matter if out of sight of 
your opponent, before making a 
stroke, try to move, bend, or break 
anything fixed or growing near the 
ball, except in taking the stand, in 
soling the club to address, or in the 
upward or downward swing, under 
the penalty of the loss of the hole, or, 
at medal play, of two strokes. 

Don't fear to move any loose im- 
6s 



GOLF DONETS 

pediment (not being in or touching a 
hazard), which is within a club length 
of the ball. But if the ball move 
after the player, his partner, or their 
caddies shall have touched any such 
impediment, the penalty is a stroke. 

Don*t improve the lie by moving 
any loose impediment that is more 
than a club length from the lie under 
penalty of loss of the hole at match 
play or two strokes at medal play. 

Don't complain if an ill wind blows 
your ball about. It is an " agency 
outside the match " that must be en- 
dured. 

Don't neglect the flag-stick. Either 
side may have it removed when ap- 
proaching the hole, but there is no 
penalty for not doing so, except, if 

66 



GOLF DON'TS 

the ball rests against the stick when in 
the hole, the player shall be entitled 
to remove the stick, and, if the ball 
fall in, it will count as a hole out on 
the previous stroke. When held up 
by the caddie, it is part of the caddie. 

Don't play up to the putting green 
until those ahead have holed out and 
moved away, yea, even though they 
be of the pencil and paper fiends who 
always stand over the cup to note 
down their strokes. 

Don't, too, yield to the inclination 
to play up into a group who are 
calmly retrying their putts. Practice 
calling out " Fore," with a facetious 
inflection, for such emergencies. 

Don't on the other hand, permit a 
player to play up while you are in 
67 



GOLF DON'TS 

just possession of the green. Unless 
the player who commits this breach 
of etiquette is a bigger man than you, 
why, just bang the ball back to him. 
Of course, if the offense is uninten- 
tional, no apology should be rejected, 
nor is there cause for umbrage when 
the green is made by an unusually 
long full shot, as when Mr. Hilton 
holed out in two from his brassey 
when he won the amateur champion- 
ship at Sandwich. 



68 



CHAPTER VI 



LUCK, PSYCHIC INFLUENCE 
AND LONG PUTTS 



CHAPTER VI 

LUCK, PSYCHIC INFLUENCE AND LONG 
PUTTS 

DON'T be indifferent on the 
green. The ball goes down 
to the " cheeky " putter, 
never for the timid weakling. To 
him who hesitates the hole is lost. 

Don't blame bad luck for a too 
great proportion of your misplays. 

Don't be too voluble over your 
fine shots of yesterday. Remember 
the adage about self-praise. On the 
other hand do not get a reputation 
for " hard luck " stories about your 
misses. 

71 



GOLF DONETS 

Don't try to coax a turn of luck. 
Better try to force by boldness a 
change of fortune. In putting luck is 
paramount ; on the long game skill 
mostly is what counts, says a great 
player of " Auld Scotia.*' 

" Don't forget/' has said a world's 
champion, " that the instant the put- 
ter moves, before you raise the head, 
something tells you whether the ball 
will go into the hole or not." This 
" something," if it may be conjured 
up at will, should be termed psychic 
influence. 

Don't fear to exert the psychic in- 
fluence whenever a difficult play is 
needed, or a long putt must be holed 
out. Hypnotize yourself into the 
consciousness that such plays are easy 
for you, when, presto ! the good 
thing will come oflF. 
72 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't let any idea that it is 
your unlucky day make you nerv- 
ous on the green. This is the time 
the wise player trys to exert his 
psychic influence, not on the flint- 
like ball, but over himself. If you 
can cast a hypnotic spell over your 
opponent there is no law to prevent 
it. 

Don't regret the hole that goes 
wrong, after the best of mental and 
putting efforts, if you have made a 
brave try. But there is no peace re- 
maining after a faint-hearted, falter- 
ing, pawky attempt. 

Don't repine should the pyschic in- 
fluence you are exerting seem only to 
be helping the other chap. It is to 
be deplored, as when the toast falls 
butter-side down, but if the infliction 
be taken as a mental tonic the luck 

73 



GOLF DONETS 

may very soon change. The player 
who keeps cool has always the best of 
the putting. 

Don't curse your bad luck ; it will 
not help your own game and may 
spoil utterly the pleasure of your op- 
ponent, who will be justified in not 
golfing with you again. Take the 
rough with the smooth; once mas- 
tered this is the secret to win in many 
a match. 

Don*t fear the greens. Undula- 
tions properly played will help the 
ball and score a long putt, while the 
wight who is shy of the ups and 
downs of the green will surely miss. 
It is as impossible to take a direct 
line to the hole on a rolling green as 
for a ship to avoid tacking against a 
head-wind. 

74 



GOLF DON'T S 

Don't, on the other hand, study 
out too many Hnes to the hole. First 
thoughts are usually best in this de- 
partment of the game. In choosing 
the line a good caddie is a great help, 
for it is usually easier to play for an 
indicated place on the 'green than to 
select the spot as one stands over the 
ball. 

Don't be a " worm " in studying 
the line of the putt. This is what the 
college boys dub a player who lies 
prostrate behind the ball and sights 
for the hole as though aiming a rifle 
at a 1,000-yard target. Better take 
aim in the position that you will play 
the putt from. 

Don't show nervousness when an 
opponent is putting. Whether he 
wins or loses, no matter what your 

75 



GOLF DON'TS 

true feelings, affect the stoical indiffer- 
ence of an Indian at a powwow. 

Don't putt short — the hole cannot 
come nearer to you. Be up ! It was 
" young Tom " who said that Tom 
Morris, Sr., only failed to be a grand 
putter because the hole was usually a 
yard too far away. 



76 



CHAPTER VII 

YE ART OF HOLING 
OUT 



CHAPTER VII 
YE ART OF HOLING OUT 

DON'T be careless on a short 
putt. He who can hole 
them all is a match for 
anybody. 

Don't fail to brush across the line 
of the putt with the hand. " Little 
grains of sand" make mountains 
when overlooked. 

Don't fp.il to make an agreement 
with the opponent at the first tee that 
blotches of mud may be removed 
from the ball on the putting greens. 

79 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't try to introduce carroms on 
the green, for to knock in the op- 
ponent's ball will count as his previ- 
ous stroke ; besides a ball hit away by 
concussion on the putting green may 
always be replaced — at medal play it 
must be. 

Don't forget that after holing out, 
you have the right to knock away the 
opponent's ball- that is on the edge of 
the cup. Be quick about it, for if 
jarred in at match play it counts as 
the previous stroke. In medal play 
the ball must be replaced, as a matter 
of disqualification. 

Don't take any chances in putting 
in a three-ball match. It is your 
right to lift or putt out, or to make 
either of the other balls be lifted or 
putted out. The opponents may is- 
80 



GOLF DON'TS 

sue similar orders to you. A ball 
may often be in such a position on the 
green that it will greatly assist one of 
the trio in taking his line for the cup. 

Don't putt, unless one would take 
up the forfeit of a stroke, until the 
opponent's ball is at rest. 

Don't move or speak while your 
opponent is putting or preparing to 
putt. Have your caddie respect this 
injunction ; also your friends in the 
encircling "gallery." 

Don't fancy that the line of the 
putt has no end. It stops in the 
hole, like a well-played ball. The 
line must be kept inviolate and above 
suspicion, even if some seemingly 
hair-splitting technicalities must be 
enforced. 

8i 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don*t sanction the turf of the putt 
being touched when the line of the 
putt is to be pointed out by your op- 
ponent's caddie. Claim the hole 
should this be done, or at medal play 
it is a penalty of two strokes. But any 
of a player's " outfit " — his cad- 
die, his partner, or his part- 
ner's caddie — may stand be- 
hind the hole, but he must not seek 
by any action to help the ball on its 
often too devious course. The line 
of the putt, however, may be touched 
by the club-head just before the ball 
in addressing it, but no inequalities 
may be pressed down. 

Don't hesitate to remove any loose 
impediments from the line of the putt, 
or from any part of the green, but if 
your ball moves after anything with- 
in six inches of it has been touched, 
82 



GOLF DON'TS 

the penalty is one stroke. Inequali- 
ties on the surface should be brushed 
away with the hand, but across the 
line of the putt. Sticklers in the game 
use only the back of the hand. 

Don't place the ball nearer to the 
hole in lifting from casual water. It 
may be placed to one side, but away 
from the hole. 

Don't forget that if a ball at rest be 
accidently or intentionally moved on 
the putting green, by the other com- 
petitor or his caddie it may be re- 
placed without penalty. 

Don't be slow on short putts. Af- 
ter brushing away any inequalities, 
take the stance and play. The art of 
holing out is to get into the cup, and 
nothing is gained by shivering, club 
83 



GOLF DON'TS 

in hand, over the ball. Play every 
putt as though it was a " cinch." 

Don't think you can practice put- 
ting on the morning of a medal play 
competition without being disquali- 
fied, and the same rule holds true in 
bogie competitions. The theory is 
that the new holes made for the 
medal round must be strange to all. 



84 



CHAPTER VIII 



MEN, WOMEN AND 

MISSES 



CHAPTER VIII 
MEN, WOMEN AND MisSCS 

DON'T change your style be- 
cause you are not winning. 
It was Lincoln who said not 
to " swap horses while crossing a 
stream." 

Don't mingle, whatever your sex, 
repartee with tee shots, airy badinage 
with the niblick thumps in a bunker, 
or puns with putts. There is a time 
for everything. 

Don't restrain zeal in your caddie, 
providing he confines it to his legiti- 
mate work. 

87 



GOLF DONETS 

Don't omit to countersign the score 
card in medal play competitions. 

Don't forget that if you can see 
the face of the driver over the left 
shoulder, when poised at the top of 
the swing, the left wrist has been 
properly dropped. 

Don't, when playing without a cad- 
die, use your opponent's caddie in 
any way without his permission. If 
the request is granted remember that 
the caddie is entitled to an extra pay- 
ment. 

Don't lift from the face of a cop 
bunker to drop back in the hazard 
unless the permission to do so is 
granted by a local rule. 

Don't go back on the old grip ; 

88 



GOLF DONETS 

"loose right, tight left," or think 
that the shaft should be well in the 
palms instead of the fingers, at least 
until you have reached the limit of 
distance playing in " the old, old 
way." 

Don't play oiF an ordinary match 
play tie except hole by hole, until one 
or the other is up. But in handicap 
match play a certain proportion of the 
round must be played, according to 
the way the strokes are given, to make 
a fair result. Medal play ties are de- 
termined by another round of the 
course, except when special conditions 
prevail. 

Don't concede odds, if possible, on 
the short holes. 

Don't forget that the custom to 
89 



GOLF DON'TS 

let a match with caddies pass one 
without caddies is now obsolete. The 
right to pass, in all cases, should be 
asked as a concession from the play- 
ers in front, to keep up the good fel- 
lowship of the links. 

Don't worry about a long and spe- 
cial code of bogie play rules. Here in 
" these United States,'' the play is 
governed by the special rules for 
stroke competitions, except that the 
competitor loses the hole when his 
ball is lost, or when it is not played 
from where it lies, except as otherwise 
provided for in the rules. 

Don't be such a stickler for the 
reckoning of strokes in the orthodox 
way as to confuse your opponent. 
Instead of "eight more" it is less 
fatiguing to the gray matter of the 
90 



GOLF DON'TS 

awaitingplayer to state frankly you are 
" playing nine." Rather be like the 
young woman in a championship who 
said with acidity, when asked how 
many more she had played : " I have 
played six and you two, now figure 
the Scotch of it for yourself." 

Don't move the fingers up and 
down the club shaft as though you 
were playing a flute. Be as firm and 
constant in the different grips as in 
your stand for the varying shots. 

Don't hesitate to claim a match on 
one round of the Hnks, but nine 
holes shall not constitute a round un- 
less so agreed. Eighteen holes is the 
true game of golf 

Don't get in front of your oppo- 
nent nor in any place where his ball 

91 



GOLF DON'TS 

might strike you. Make your caddie 
follow your example. 

Don't play a formal match unless 
the holes shall be of the regular di- 
mensions — 4j^ inches in diameter, 
and at least 4 inches deep. Tin cups 
are best, for the ball will sometimes 
rebound out of a solid iron cup. By 
putting green is meant all ground 
within twenty yards of the hole, ex- 
cept hazards, although not so defined 
in the new rules. 

Don't speak or move when an op- 
ponent or any player is making a 
stroke, nor crowd forward behind the 
line for fear you might force his eye 
from the ball. 

Don't feign an indifference to ap- 
plause when in a match that has 
92 



GOLF DON'TS 

the honor of a " gallery/' providing 
always that the applause does not 
come until after the hole has been 
won. 



Don't envy the winner. Your turn 
will come some day for compliments 
and the cup. 

Don't forsake an old friend who 
shows a disinclination to join forces 
with you in the great foursome of the 
club year. Remember that a mere 
acquaintance may be easier to get 
along with, for he will not be so frank 
in criticism. 



Don't enlist the services of your 
friends to cajole or bully the handicap 
committee in your behalf. Medals 
won on a false rating soon tarnish. 

93 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't encourage chit-chat from 
your partner in a foursome, for it may- 
put him off his game. This, of 
course, does not apply in mixed four- 
somes. 

Don't concede an advantage in 
play, and never accept one. In a 
match each player should " paddle 
his own canoe," while in a medal play 
competition by compelling a strict 
attention to the rules you protect the 
interests of the entire body of players. 

Don't press, but at times all the 
energy possible must be put into the 
game ; for instance, when your oppo- 
nent is in the happy lot of dormie- 
three. Play every club then, from 
wood to putter, as though it was the 
last time you were to use it on earth, 
and you wanted to bring a par score to 
Heaven. 

94 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't foozle through carelessness, 
haste, forcing, or over-anxiety. The 
foozle that is not due to one of these 
four reasons, must have been predes- 
tined, fore-ordained from the begin- 
ning. Regard it as the rod that 
chasteneth and bear the infliction with 
equanimity, that good may follow. 

Don't bully the caddies. 

Don't devote too much time to the 
game. A round before breakfast, a 
thirty-six hole match during the day, 
with eighteen holes in the cool of the 
evening would seem to be about 1:he 
limit, except on extraordinary occa- 
sions. 

Don't groan over a miss, like a boy 
who has been eating green apples. 
Better smile, even though you have 
to force it ; then try, try again. 

95 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't in a foursome, force the smile 
so heartily that your partner will take 
umbrage at it. Discriminate ! 

Don't induce others to concede 
odds that you would not offer your- 
self, conditions being the same. Let 
every golfer find out his own strength 
or weakness. The mutual friend who 
makes a match usually fares in golf 
as the person who steps in between a 
quarreling married couple. 

Don't proceed in serene ignorance 
as to the run of the match by holes. 
Nothing is more maddening than to 
have an opponent query in a fatuous 
way at quick intervals : " I say, how 
do we stand now ? " 

Don't wander from the matter in 
hand. Vacillation will cause a miss 
96 



GOLF DON'TS 

as quickly on the tee as on the put- 
ting green. Be watchful ever. Let 
the next shot rest until you have 
made the first one. Think of the 
fair green beyond the hazard, not 
what you will have to do if trapped 
in it. 

Don't wait for your opponent to 
hole out a two-inch ball when you are 
down on the odd. Better concede a 
half on everything under six inches at 
least. Some very good golfers are 
stickers on everything being holed 
out, but the grand players of record 
have always erred on the generous 
side. Aim at the stars ; you may 
foozle, but your golfing soul will be 
glorified. 

Don't continue to putt when your 
chances are hopeless, unless, of course, 

97 



GOLF DON'TS 

at medal play. At the match it is a 
sign of a good " gowfer " to yield 
quickly and with good grace. The 
act gains the respect of your oppo- 
nent and of the entire field back, for 
nothing is so productive of a congested 
links as slow putting. 

Don't growl over technicalities ; 
rather concede a point than be too 
domineering, unless by repetition you 
find the opponent has the habit of 
imposing in small things. 

Don't cheat. Remember, O tempt- 
ed Mortal, that every wrong deed 
of intention, yea, every m-ere pecca- 
dillo, is seen and scored against you by 
the shades of the grand golfers of 
old, who from their sun-kissed clouds 
are the guardians of the links. 



98 



CHAPTER IX 



ROUND THE RESTFUL 
NINETEENTH 



L«re. 



CHAPTER IX 
ROUND THE RESTFUL NINETEENTH 

DON'T change the round to 
bring nearer the " Restful 
Nineteenth." One should 
not golf to eat and drink alone, but 
the appetite the game confers is a 
great blessing. But it is best to play 
the full course before taking one's 
ease. 

Don't sanction a dinner unless the 
day is done. With eighteen holes 
more to play eat lustily but like an 
athlete. Leave the kickshaws and 
rich entrees for the evening meal. No 
golfer yet won an amateur champion- 



GOLF DON'TS 

ship who had eaten "with Duke 
Humphrey." 

Don't bow to custom in the choice 
of beverages. Let each consult his 
taste, from whiskey to lemonade, beer 
to champagne, light wines to aerated 
waters. The list is long enough for 
all to pick and choose without offend- 
ing his neighbor. 

Don't be the autocrat of the smok- 
ing room as to what the members 
should eat or drink to golf their 
best. One great champion eats a 
Gargantua-like luncheon and begins 
the second round puffing on a black 
cigar nearly a stimie-measure in 
length ; another takes cold roast beef, 
dry bread and cold tea, with cigar- 
ettes to follow. Make up your own 
menu. 



GOLF DONETS 

Don't offend the company by 
bringing a woeful face to the table. 
Whatever the round may have been 
appear contented. But if you have 
had to protest a player do not wring 
his hand as though he was the Damon 
to your Pythias. 

Don't question any medal play 
score returned in a competition un- 
less you are an eye-witness of the 
violation of the rules. Hearsay talk 
on such matters is often a cause of 
disagreements among men who 
should know better. 

Don't meddle unasked with inci- 
dents that occur in matches at which 
you are a looker-on. If your advice 
is wanted it will probably be asked for. 

Don't, unless a churl, pass the 
103 



GOLF DON'TS 

loving-cup because you think it 
should bear your name instead of the 
winner's. But no true golfer needs 
this admonition. 

Don't hurrah, on handicap day, 
until the very last card has been 
turned in. Nothing is more galling 
than to fill up the cup a few times 
only to find later that it must be 
handed over to someone else. 

Don't challenge the winner, unless 
invited to do so, until after the stir- 
rup cup at least. Now's the time for 
merriment, and do your little to add 
to the title-holder's hour of bliss. 

Don't try to prevail in the after- 
match argument by sheer lung power. 

Don't determine that because you 
104 



GOLF DON'TS 

have six for a hole a poorer golfer is 
a falsifier who claims a four, although 
in the bunker from his tee shot. The 
lucky hole, like the gentle rain, fall- 
eth to the just and unjust alike. 

Don't enhance your own glory. 
Let the others, over the cakes and 
ale, tell the story of your mighty 
deeds. Should they speak only of 
their own fine plays, a way too com- 
mon in the after-match sessions, con- 
sole yourself with the thought that 
a good hstener is more rare than a 
good talker. 

Don*t cringe before the club handi- 
capper. Win his confidence by a 
tactful independence of mien, com- 
bined with a discreet liberality in the 
way of long drinks and short smokes. 
Then play him a match, and prove 
105 



GOLF DON'TS 

undubitably how badly you play 
when there is something on your 
mind. 

Don't grumble. Whether a victim 
of bad luck, bad judgment, bad handi- 
capping, or bad counsel, keep serene. 
Ill-tempered mumblings on these and 
kindred themes, as you twirl the 
spoon in a julep, will only cause folks 
to avoid your table as though you 
had the plague. 

Don't, when there is a rope, be a 
cause of confusion by trying to get 
under it, or around by the ends. Re- 
spect the committeemen as well as 
the players. 

Don't decoy a poorer player into a 
match " for keeps " by an intentional 
series of bad shots in his full view, or 

10 6 



GOLF DON'TS 

by misrepresentations of your real 
game over a glass and pipe while 
working up to a match. 

Don't salute the principals in a 
match unless you are first recognized. 
Because you know a man would you 
put him off his game ? 

Don't speak of one's " partner " 
in stroke play ; " fellow-competitor " 
is the correct term. 

Don't be ,angry should the referee 
in a match call you down for some 
breach of the rules without being ap- 
pealed to by your opponent. It is 
his duty to take cognizance of such 
happenings, and although it may vex 
you to find he knows more of the 
game than you suspected, one must 
submit. 

107 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't, if a camera enthusiast, in- 
terfere with a match by stealing up 
to take snap-shots. Never take a 
snap-shot unless with the permission 
of both of the players. 

Don't keep the camera enthusiasts 
entirely out of it. A good rule is to 
promise to pose for them after the 
round, if they will agree not to bother 
you on the links. A request of this 
sort is really a compliment to your 
golfing prowess. 

Don't sneer at the " duffer " who 
turns in the flagrantly bad score in 
the handicap. Courage in this re- 
spect is proof of a better golfing fu- 
ture. If given to the cynical, sneer 
rather at the fairly proficient golfer 
who never returns a card at a compe- 
tition unless it is a low one. 

io8 



GOLF DON'TS 

Don't confide to anyone that you 
have beaten the bogie aggregate by 
strokes. If the bogie is 43, for in- 
stance, there is often heard the boast 
that a 41 has been made. This is all 
wrong. Par or scratch golf is intelli- 
gible, but bogie play is hole play 
pure and simple. The strokes should 
only be taken into consideration in so 
far as they affect the result of the 
hole. 

Don't ever think that you have 
reached the top of your game : keep 
striving always to do better. In prac- 
tise, or at informal rounds, keep the 
motto " Excelsior " pinned to the 
caddie bag as a constant stimulus. A 
way to help the game by many 
strokes in the progress of the season 
is to keep a running average of play 
at each hole, then, when on the tee, 
X09 



GOLF DON'TS 

make a mental determination to con- 
cede to the average figure a half, or a 
stroke, or whatever odds you deem 
warranted by the difficulties of the 
hole in question. In other words, 
have your own bogie and keep play- 
ing at it. 



INDEX 



Addressing — 

To hold club, 42. 
Breaking or bending obsta- 
cles, 65, 66. 

Approaching — 

Run up or pitch, 59. 

With niblick, 46. 

Points on methods, 57, 58, 

59, 60. 
On playing up, 67. 

Attire — 

Hints on, 4, 5. 

Bunkers — 
See Hazards. 

Ball — 

Folly of watching flight, ai. 
Keeping eye on, 21. 
Moving, 24, 36, 39, 65. 
Struck when rolling, 24. 
Out of bounds, 26, 64. 
When lost, 35, 40, 63, 64. 
Stopped by fore-caddie, 36. 
When hit twice, 36. 
In casual or constant water, 

36, 37, 49- 
When displaced, 38. 
Lifting, 37, 64. 
Changing in play, 39. 



Ball — 

Mud on, 40. 
When hacked, 39, 40. 
In permanent or moving haz- 
ard, 46, 48, 49, 50, 

Order of play, 61. 
Playing wrong ball, 61, 62. 
Blown by wind, 66. 
Hitting flagstick, 66. 
When putting, 79, 81, 82, 
83, 84. 

Caddies — 

Controlling, 27, 95. 
Advice from, 28. 
Use of, 29. 
Responsibility for, 36. 
When hit by ball, 36. 
And lost baUs, 64. 
In putting, 75, 82, 83. 
Zeal, 87. 

Using opponent's, 88. 
Right of match with, in pas- 
sing, 89. 
Getting before ball, 91. 

Clubs — 

Choice and care of, 8. 
Old clubs and new, 19. 
Must suit lies, 33. 
In addressing, 42. 



INDEX 



Clubs — 

Soling in hazard, 50, 52. 
Judging distance for stroke, 

57- 
Forcing a weak one, 59. 

Competitions — 

Medal play and general — on 

terms of, 10, 107. 
Importance of local rules, 1 1 . 
Putting before, 84. 
Scoring in, 88, 94, 108. 
Ties, 89. 

Bogie play, 90, 109. 
On handicaps, 93, 104, 

105. 
On protests, 103. 

Driving — 

Stance and swing, 18. 
Drawing line on tee, 1 9. 
The waggle, 20. 
To compel long ball, 22. 
Leverage, follow through 

and under spin, 22. 
Before green in clear, 26. 
At top of swing, 88. 
Grip, 88. 

Foursomes — 

On choosing partners, 93. 
Chaffing, 94, 96. 

Foursomes — 

Scotch, and three-ball 
matches, 34, 65, 80. 



Game — 

Origin of, 3. 
As muscle-builder, 4. 
Compared with angling, 4. 
On intention, 5, 96. 
Elemental differences, 12. 
Luck averages, 52, 53. 
How to count, 90, 98. 
What constitutes, 91. 
Foozling and missing, 95. 
Meddling and boasting, 103, 

104, 105. 
Power of referee, 107. 
To help, 109. 

Hazards — 

How to get well out of, 45, 

46, 47. 
Stance in, 48, 52. 
Moving, 48. 
Water, 49. 
Soling club, 50. 
When may lift, 51, 52. 
Lifting from cop bunker, 88. 



Honor — 
Toss for, 1 2, 
Customs governing, 25. 
Penalty strokes, 26. 



Iron Shots — 
Taking turf, 57. 
Points on, 57, 58. 
Running up and mashie 

pitches, 59. 
Stabbed shots, 60. 



INDEX 



Lies — 

On improving, 33, 41, 65, 

66. 
Replacing divots, 41. 
In playing poor ones, 42. 
Casting blame on, 58. 

Local Rules — 
Power of, II. 
Regarding trees, 1 1 . 
Lifting on cop bunkers, 88. 

Manners — 

About club house, 3, 4, 9, 

loi, 102, 103, 104. 
On sympathy, 18. 
On worries, 27, 93. 
Talking and moving, 40, 71, 

81, 87, 92. 
On growling, 98, 106. 
For onlookers, 106, 107. 
For photographers, 108. 

Matchmaking — 

Suggestions on, 5, 6, 7. 
On consideration, 13. 
Giving odds, 89, 96, 106. 

Match-playing — 

Importance of prompt start, 

9, 10. 
Feasting beforehand, 10. 
On local rules, 1 1 . 
Easy way of winning, 21. 
Ties in, 89. 
The gallery, 92. 
On advantages, 94. 



Mud — 

On ball, 40, 79. 

Niblick — 

To use to advantage, 46. 
In long grass, 64. 

Opponent — 

Choice of, 6, 7. 

May recall tee shot, 17. 

Consideration for, 18, 22, 

52, 63, 65, 74, 81, 91, 

92, 97. 
When he is winning, 21, 

75- 

On rebuking, 24, 25, 82. 

Hitting with ball, 36. 

Displacing his ball, 38. 

When he moves ball, 48. 

Right to move steps in haz- 
ard, 51. 

When he may recall your 
stroke, 61. 

Playing wrong ball, 62. 

Proximity of ball, 64. 

Knocking away ball in green, 
80. 

Using his caddie, 88. 

Pressing — 
To avoid, 21. 
Danger in, from tee, 26. 
An alternative, 41. 
When compulsory, 94. 

Professional Golfers — 
Value of play with adept, 6, 
7- 



INDEX 



Professional Golfers — 
As club makers and repairers, 

8,9. 
Guides in selecting clubs, 19. 
As caddies, 28. 

Putting — 

Points on, 67, 75, 79, 80, 

81. 
Luck in, 71, 72, 73, 74. 
Boldness, 72, 73, 76. 
Green shyness, 74. 
Knocking away opponent's 

ball, 80. 
Touching line of, 82. 
Loose impediments on green, 

82. 
Casual water, 83. 
Before competition, 84. 
Size of holes, 92. 
On concessions, 97. 

Right of Way — 

Advice on, 34, 35, 61, 89. 

Stance — 

Why take, before teeing, 23. 
For the irons, 3 3 . 
In hazard, 48, 52. 
In putting, 83. 



Style — 

New ideas on, 24. 
On taking turf, 57. 
Iron shots, 57, 58, 60. 
In putting, 60, 61, 80. 
Changing, 87. 
On grip, 88, 91. 

Swing — 

How to get distance and 

style, 20, 88. 
To loosen up shoulders, 22. 
False trial attempts, 22 
With iron clubs, 58. 

Teeing-up — 

Outside marks, 1 7. 
Proper turn, 17, 22. 
Best way of, 18. 
Choosing place, 23. 
Ball moves, 24. 
The honor, 25, 26. 
Time between pairs, 26. 
Through green, 64. 

Water — 

Ball lost in, 37, 38,49,63. 

In hazard, 49. 

On putting green, 83. 



/ 



114 



OCT 24 1900 



^^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 










0020; 



237 062 7 



